Episode 33

full
Published on:

12th Jul 2022

33. Kick the Day

Joining me this week is Julievette Jefferson, who started a non-profit called Kick the Day to provide kids with a space to play, learn, and move through gaming and other activities. Julievette's experience in the education world combined with a drive to keep kids sane and happy during the pandemic lead to Kick the Day, which now services her community in and around Philadelphia. We talk about community organizations, the importance of after school activities, and more.

Julievette's orgaization is currently doing a fundraiser for this year's programming. If you would like to support the mission, please visit: https://icaniwillktd.com/donate

Episode Resources:

https://icaniwillktd.com/

Transcript
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Welcome to the meadow woman podcast. We address the

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issues, opportunities and challenges facing women in the

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development of the metaverse the biggest revolution since the

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internet itself. Every week we bring you conversations with top

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boss POS, the meta woman podcast starts now.

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Hello, and welcome to the metal woman podcast part of the

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holodeck media Podcast Network. I'm your host Lindsay The Boss

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Boss and from struggle to success. We're covering it all

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returning listeners, thank you so much for supporting the show.

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Thank you for listening week after week. Thank you for all

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the feedback you send in I love getting it. And for the new

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listeners. Welcome. I hope you enjoy and I hope you'll come

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back next week. Today's guest is Julie vet, Jefferson, co founder

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and creator of pick the day, an organization that in its own

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words has, quote, a mission to provide STEM education through

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esports encoding, while advancing diversity, equity and

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inclusion for youth and communities. Juliet this is

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going to be such a fun conversation about building

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esports from the grassroots level. I love talking to

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community builders. To start I would love for you to introduce

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yourself and give a bit of your background to the audience.

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Awesome. Thank you so much for having me, Lindsay. Again, I'm

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Juliet Jefferson. I have a background in marketing and

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advertising. And then I discovered my passion for

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fitness and wellness and kind of fast forward through all of our

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journey, bringing us to a family of four boys and a husband who

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all love gaming. And us trying to figure out how do we kind of

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put intention behind their gaming. So as a mom that does

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research, like probably too much. We discovered this world

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of esports that we did not know exists even as my husband was an

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avid gamer, since he was so young didn't know about this

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world of esports. Then we came to COVID. And we said hey, like

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let's do something fun and safe. Because our kids were not going

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to have gym class or socialize during recess. So we got did a

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program in our neighborhood called fit in play where we

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brought kids together to exercise and play games

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together. And that was such a hit in our community. Kids love

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that parents love that. And that's kind of how it all got

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started my passion and love for wellness and my husband and kids

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love for gaming and we created kick the day.

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You definitely got into a lot of your origin story there. But can

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you you told me a great story about how and how you started in

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your driveway, I believe with the kids and how it's grown out.

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So can you just give me a little more detail about now this has

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grown and evolved and changed over the pandemic and what the

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programs that you actually have now are

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absolutely self employed did start in our driveway. When we

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came up with the idea in this structure, we just put out

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flyers in our neighborhood. And parents would sign up their kids

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either for every day or whatever days their child was available.

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And so we brought out a big TV that we actually someone was

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going to throw away. And so we repurposed the TV, put it in our

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garage, put up a switch. And so we had kids doing exercise for

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about 45 minutes. And surprisingly, sometimes they

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wanted to do it longer. We would run up and down the driveway. We

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do like simple things like jumping jacks and push ups I had

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resistance bands. And we really allow the kids opportunities to

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take leadership. So we would pick someone to say, Okay, what,

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what exercises should we do next. And they really, really

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enjoyed the opportunity to take leadership with their peers. And

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then the gaming usually went longer than we had intended. But

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it was everyone just had such a great time. And of course, they

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were not having socialization with their friends. So this was

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like yes, other people other than my parents or my siblings.

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And one thing that was super special that gave us the desire

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to keep moving forward with this and figuring out how to grow

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this was that in this space. One these kids lived in the same

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neighborhood, but many of them were not friends, right? They

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didn't play together. And then the other thing we knew that

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even if they went to the same school, they probably were not

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in the same friends circles. We had the very popular kids we

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have the athletes, we had the very shy reserved kids, but in

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this space, it was so beautiful to see a natural just clicking

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of everybody everyone got along. No one was left out If we didn't

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have to, sometimes I think with kids, you know, you kind of try

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to push like to get them to like mingle. But in this space, it

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was just totally natural. We just provided the space and the

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day and time and then the kids really took it over from there

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was just so natural, so beautiful. And so by seeing that

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dynamic, we were like, how do we grow from here? Like, where do

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we take this from here from our driveway, we had no idea it was

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just an idea to get kids moving and socializing

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and wandering in the driveway like

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the dining one. Even though we're I'm thinking maybe this

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summer, we should do like a pop up thing in our driveway now

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that we live somewhere new. So from there, just in conversation

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with someone who was the director of a school, Plymouth

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Meeting, Pennsylvania, we I told her about our fit and play

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program. And all that encompasses she absolutely loved

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it and said, Can you bring something like this to our

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school. And in the midst of that we were still digging into this

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esports space, we were still very unfamiliar. And we started

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to get our kids signed up for competitions. And our kids won a

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few small prizes. And it just was like, wow, there's something

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bigger here than just sitting in front of a screen and sitting on

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your butt all day, which that was my perspective, like I get,

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we gotta get up, you got to do something like what's the point

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here, right? And then also discovering careers in in

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gaming, discovering this ecosystem that is in esports,

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that it's not just the gamer, right? It's the broadcasting.

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And there's so many different roles and pieces that come

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together. And really having these conversations with the

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kids in our community, but with our own children about, Hey, you

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don't have to be the number one. And you also probably have other

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passions than playing the games. So how can we develop them mash

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that all together? So we developed a program called

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gaming with intention. And so that is our program that we

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deliver in schools where we introduce kids to competitive

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gaming. And so our, our focus, not our sole focus, but we

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really want to in impact, lower income urban communities that in

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our conversation esports is very new to them. And so as we're

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discovering how, like, have you ever competed before? How do you

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know what competitive gaming is? Even the word esports is a

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foreign word to many of the youth that we've been talking

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to. So really just kind of like esports, one on one, like

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introducing them to tournaments, and how that works, introducing

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them to sitting down and playing a game and understanding the

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skill behind the game, and how do we get better? How do we lose

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effectively? How do we take a loss and analyze and getting the

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kids to have those conversations with each other? And not just us

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facilitating but taking the better players say Hey, can you

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tell your peer? How you did XYZ? Or what did you notice that they

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could do better? And they by giving them at least those

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questions, the conversation starts to flow naturally on its

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own. So we are now completing our first full school year,

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hosting gaming with intention at this school, it's K through

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nine, most of the kids that come are really like four through

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nine. A lot of the younger kids would rather do something else.

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And so this is very different because we are integrated in

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their school day. So we are the last like half an hour of the

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school day. And so what is special about this is they've

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earned their time. So they've had to have good behavior and

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participate in class. And so the there's many activities besides

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game with attention at the school that they could choose

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from. And so we are just one of many activity they can choose.

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And so the structure has been seasons are just two weeks. And

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so they have one week of training and then one week where

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they're competing. And then every winner throughout the

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school year will then compete in one final championship

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tournament at the end of the school year for a trophy and

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some other goodies to just take home and say I'm the champion of

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this particular game. So that's kind of how it all unfolded and

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then as we're growing this summer, we are partnering with

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amateur esports Association to host three one week camps. Which

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we're focused on esports, and broadcasting and all of the

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different pieces that come together with that. As well as

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figuring out what pieces we need to launch fit and code, which

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would essentially be very similar to fit in play. Just

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adding some code, learning coding in there. And our hope is

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that it's specific to game design, how do you code and

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design your own game? While integrating the fitness piece?

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That's so cool. What has the response been like from schools

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and from administrators? I know you have one reach out and say,

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Hey, come here, come help us or come do a program. But have you

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encountered since that one person, have you encountered

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more people reaching out and wanting to learn? Have you

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encountered resistance from folks who may be more on the

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we're not sure about gaming yet side of things like, what are

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schools in your area? And you are, and I would love for you to

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talk about this if you're outside of Philadelphia. But

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what are the what is going on in your area with? You know, middle

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is particularly I would say middle and high schools, like

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you said, that are fourth or 12 kind of region, but how are

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schools responding to you and trying to get more esports

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worked into the school day.

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So we've been in quite a few conversations, a lot of schools,

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budget is such a big piece of this right being able to provide

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the equipment necessary for the kids to play. So that's a big

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topic of conversation of, we're interested, but how do we make

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it happen. So we've been kind of brainstorming ideas on how the

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schools could possibly fundraise to purchase the equipment that

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they need. We are ourselves fundraising in trying to figure

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out donations for our summer camp. So at least when the kids

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conference summer camp, they don't have to worry about the

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equipment we can already provide it. Some schools understand that

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they'll have some gamers on staff. And that's an easy

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conversation, when at least one person can know a little bit

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about this world, and then give it back in form where the

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administrators can be like, Okay, we get it. And then there

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are some schools that they're like, we're just gonna play

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video games. And then there's, you know, just push back on

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understanding how, what is the value. And really pitching the

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value b is not just about the video game is about the

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teamwork, it's about how we can get these kids to, to learn

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about sportsmanship. And that is the key part, right? Like, I

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think us and many organizations in this esports space is, as

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with any organized sport, there, they all have similar values,

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right? They may be played differently, but we all have

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similar values, and why we want kids to be part of a team and

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part of an organized sport and having someone to coach and

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mentor them. And so with us, we are really pushing the other

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piece, because this would be an organized sport, where they're

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not moving their bodies. And so really integrating that wellness

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piece to keep the whole body you know, ready to play at their

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best. So it's a little bit of both, to your question of, we

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have some schools that are like, we don't want video games in our

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school, they can do that at home on their free time. And other

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schools who are very much open to it and just figuring out how

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do we make it happen in terms of expenses?

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Gotcha. Yeah. And that is always any. You're a nonprofit working

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with schools. And so there's a lot of financial difficulties

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that come with that. Yeah, I think as many many people know

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and understand. I do want to talk specifically. And we've

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gotten into this, for sure. I want to talk specifically about

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the community you're in and what it's like to actually build. Hi.

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Hello. That is our younger.

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Yeah, for those that are watching the video, we just got

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a great cameo. That was great. That made my day. But I do want

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to talk specifically about the community here. And there has

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been definitely a push when we talk about fundraising, we talk

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a lot about, like nationwide programs. And some of them have

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been successful. Some of them have not we saw flavors, we saw

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what happened with flavors. And there's to me, especially where

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we're at right now. I mean, esports really took off maybe

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like five years ago. So it's such a nascent industry and just

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hard to make everyone happy when you're trying to build a

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national view. Yeah. Um, so can you talk about how you're able

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to build something from the grassroots level, and how you're

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able to work with your community to identify the needs and the

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areas that were met, I think you use your own kits as a template,

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which is always a good place to start, because I'm sure you know

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them very well. But how were you able to, I don't know, look

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around and see what kits needed and and see what parents wanted

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and see what administrators wanted? And how do you feel

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about taking that approach versus trying to kind of create

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a package and then give it to a community? Um,

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I think really, the Insight is first being a parent, I'm not

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sure that I would have like that, to be tuned in to those

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kinds of things, had I not been a parent, I'm not sure. I also

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worked in educational staffing for five years. So talking to

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administrators about their staffing needs, is directly

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correlated to the needs of their students. And, you know, having

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to put on the hat of the type of teachers that I need to hire,

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because this is what they need to accomplish. All of those

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kinds of pieces put together like I, we believe that this is

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kind of the road because we could just solely be like a

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community based organization not ever talked to the schools. But

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if we can touch students, like where they are all the time, and

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I think there is something special, in this school year,

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we've seen the students seeing their teachers and seeing that

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their school is invested in something that they're

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interested in. That is what otherwise be like, just casual

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free time. Right? Like, there was something that happened

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there. And, you know, having the staff part of the program being,

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you know, kind of like our CO coaches and facilitating and

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being able to play with their teachers, and have this fun

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time. I think that gave us some insight into, hey, we know we

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need the education. But how can we get kids more excited about

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coming to school, and excited about their grades and what

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they're learning? Again, very similar to other organized

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sports, where they have to have a certain GPA to participate or

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whatever.

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And esports is just

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whether you're the shy, reserved, or you're the athlete,

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it crosses all borders, all characteristics and

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personalities. And so when we started to have conversations,

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also like, Hey, we're thinking about this, what is your idea to

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another community organization? And they're like, We never

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thought about that. I think that's a great idea. I'm a

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gamer, you know, what are? How can I help you? Right? And so

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it's like, really, through having conversations of what do

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you think because we have this idea, we're not sure if it'd be

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successful or not, and people validating, and then seeing the

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kids, they're not directly giving us feedback? Well, we're

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seeing everything kind of evolve. That's kind of like

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where, where we're, we're letting feedback. And the the

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kids kind of guide us really?

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Yeah, well, I just think that that's, I bring this app because

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I, I really like talking about esports and education. And I

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think that there is there's a lot happening in college like

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ton happening time. And then there's a lot of companies that

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have kind of tried in the in the middle of high school scene, but

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it's obviously extremely hard to monetize. So if you're trying to

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build a company that's taking on investors and doing all this

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stuff, it can be really tricky. And a lot of these companies

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also try to come up with nationwide programs. And I

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think, your experience as an educational staffer, and then

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having kids of your own makes it so that you can be really

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successful within your community and like add that value in a way

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that a prepackaged program might have difficulty doing that. So I

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think that's definitely like, that's a different approach than

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a lot of people have taken. But these kind of more grassroots

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things at the, at the current juncture, just make more sense

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to me, because you're gonna have a lot better idea of what you

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need in the suburbs of Philadelphia. And when he was

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writing a program in Florida and looking for huge amounts of

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investments and a way to monetize that just isn't

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necessarily there without public support. Like,

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right. Yes, support is big key. Exactly.

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monetize, this is by you getting the commute really on board. And

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it's easier to do that if you live there and you're doing it

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than it is like to try to come in and make people believe in

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the vision? Yes, for

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sure. No, absolutely. Like, even if you take, like, if you make

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it even smaller, like on a more granular level, like, we had the

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director of the school bring us in, in the end, she believed it,

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and she was excited about it. But we still had to have support

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from everybody else. All of the staff members, the other

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administrators. And and that was not easy. You would think all

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the director says this is good. And so you just walk right in,

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and it's going to be easy peasy. But it's not, you really have to

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get buy in from the community as a whole. So that they can say to

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their classrooms, hey, this is a new program happening in our

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school, it's an option for you to sign up and attend. And so

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we, you know, from the beginning, we didn't just have a

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whole ton of kids coming, it was maybe two and then five, and

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then 10. And then 20, you know, and so the support of the

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community, you know, like, no matter how big or small is so

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essential, so that you're not the only one, like, with a

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bullhorn saying, Hey, we're here. This is why you have to

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come, you know, like you have kind of like, this is why word

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of mouth is so important, right? Because that's the community to

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support the value.

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That makes total sense. And what has the response been, like,

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from the kids from the parents, from the teachers from, you

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know, from even local government or whoever, like, what kind of

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feedback have you been getting from folks in the community

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about the programs that you're doing? Parents love it,

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is they love the fitness piece. They're like, Oh, I love it,

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you're getting my kid, like, they don't do anything at home,

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I just said, so the parents love the fitness piece. We've also

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been able to partner with other organizations that do things

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like girls, we just finished a girls and gaming program, where

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they had girls go through six weeks of talking about esports

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and developing their own event esports event, and then

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possibly, you know, one of them could make this a reality. So

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how do you go from idea to implementation and planning and

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all of that. And so the programs that we integrate, or try to

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expose the kids to, that's what the parents love, the schools,

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our school so far, they just, they love that in this space. So

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this school is very special in that 100% of the kids have an

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IEP for many, many reasons. And so there are some behavior

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challenges.

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Sure, I'm very familiar with IEP s. But can you explain what

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those are just just in case?

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Yes. So IEP stands for individualized education plan.

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You can have this for any number of reasons it can be add, it can

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be speech, it can be that it's not falling under the spectrum

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of special education. So I'm learning this as we continue

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into the world of education. But you a student can have an IEP

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for many number of reasons just means that for this particular

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reason, we need to give them extra support, whatever that

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reason may be. And for many of these students, that is a

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behavior, like whatever their situation is, it does translate

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into behavior challenges. And so because they're here with me,

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that means they've earned the right to be there, they've had a

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good day, they participated. You know, they did everything they

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were supposed to do to earn that time with me. And so that is the

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one thing they're like, as the numbers grow. And as the kids

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keep coming back, that means these kids keep having good

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days. And that means that what was a productive day in the

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classroom. And so that's the wind.

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When you said that earlier, not knowing the full picture,

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because I mean, even if even any kid earning and being on good

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behavior and having a good day is really important for sure.

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But knowing the full picture and knowing the type of school

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you're in, it's definitely like an extra incentive, which is

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really cool. Absolutely. You're able to, to bring that in. As

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someone who is in the nonprofit slash education side. What kind

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of support systems do you wish were in place? They don't

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necessarily that can that can take on a whole bunch of

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meetings. Right? So the gaming industry support from local

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governments or local businesses support from parents support for

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the schools like what do you wish there was for you to make

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this transition into the education portion? A little bit

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smoother. Um,

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we haven't gotten a lot of response from local government.

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And that can be a numerous things. And so local government

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support would be amazing, right? Because if we had local

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government saying to school and or communities, this is good for

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XYZ, right. And we have case studies, all over our country

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that are showing this is good for various reasons. It's just a

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matter of getting everyone else to see and agree. I think if we

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put education at the state level, right, like for us, it

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will be the Pennsylvania Department education, if we had

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support and buy in from them in the value of esports. That

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trickle, the trickle down will be easier, right? We're trying

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to go from the bottom up, it's a lot easier when it comes from

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the top down. And so just at the state level, it would be nice to

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see our state see the value in it. Because gaming is not going

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away the children's interests, or people in general interest in

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gaming isn't going away. And so but I just everything is like

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how do we monetize? And I, I want there to be a balance. It's

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like, how do we get state support? But also not a whole

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bunch of companies? Like rushing into? Like, how do we say

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support me? Yeah, you know, to Yeah, less

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rules attached to funds, it can mean,

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like, that part of it. The money. Part of it is I think the

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tricky part. And when you think bigger, it's the the money's

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necessary, right? Because you need to invest to grow. We need

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money for the schools to have these programs. But what does

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that look like? And it's just like you said, not the red tape

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or like companies study and just to figure out like, how much

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money they can make now that the state is supporting it.

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That's interesting. They hadn't thought about that second piece.

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And I do think that, yeah, when it comes to when we talked about

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earlier, kind of national versus local programs, like, yeah,

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you're right, you don't want a whole bunch of people to come in

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and try to make a grandiose national program that they can

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or even a state, you know, spread all over Pennsylvania,

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and then yeah, and monetize off of so that makes total sense. Do

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you speaking of this, do you see yourself kind of staying in the

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nexus of gaming and education and staying in schools? Do you

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think that it will get to a point where maybe you're less

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interested in working in schools, and you kind of want to

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create your own space or have your own programs? I know you've

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previously worked as an education staffer, so I'm not

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sure if that plays into it, but like it has this. And given that

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you all started in 2020? Ish, right? So definitely my growth

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phases here. You see yourself staying in working with schools,

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because of, you know, the feedback, you've gotten the

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value you've gotten the way you've gotten kids to be

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involved? Or do you first see, hey, working in schools is

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great, but it doesn't come with the monetization that comes with

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it. The schools do have rules when it comes to barriers, and

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it takes a lot of buy in to get education on board. Like do you

Unknown:

picture yourself monetizing in a different way in the future? Are

Unknown:

you really passionate about staying in education and

Unknown:

providing these opportunities through schools.

Unknown:

So we do have a goal to open ktd Studios, which would be a land

Unknown:

and Education Center, where we have our own place to to host

Unknown:

these programs, and so much more, because now it's our space

Unknown:

and we can do what we want. But outside of schools, we've

Unknown:

thought about partnering with, like Boys and Girls Clubs,

Unknown:

YMCAs, local rec centers, other nonprofit organizations, for

Unknown:

instance, we'll be partnering with cancer who they are a

Unknown:

cancer support nonprofit. So they support cancer patients as

Unknown:

well as family members who are experiencing that journey with

Unknown:

whoever is diagnosed. And so they are the first and only

Unknown:

black owned Cancer Support Center in the country. And so

Unknown:

we're partnering with them to host our camps. So they're

Unknown:

allowing us to host our camp in their beautiful space in

Unknown:

Philadelphia. And so other organizations that have this

Unknown:

pulse on the community, and kids that see the value And what

Unknown:

esports can bring and not just esports not just the competitive

Unknown:

part, we have the kids who are not interested in competing,

Unknown:

which is great. And that's where fit and play comes into play, or

Unknown:

fitting. Kobe is not just about the competing, but merging your

Unknown:

passion and your interests and also finding other people have

Unknown:

similar interests and creating friendships and connection.

Unknown:

That's just a you're open to kind of doing broader community

Unknown:

stuff and not just education. Right now, this

Unknown:

is just kind of like our beginning. Right. Absolutely.

Unknown:

I wondered, I think that there's, I mean, there's

Unknown:

certainly room for both, and especially since you are focused

Unknown:

on community development, and what that looks like. And I

Unknown:

think it's good not to feel the need, for sure.

Unknown:

Absolutely. Yeah.

Unknown:

And I want to kind of pivot a little bit, we've talked a lot

Unknown:

about kick the day, which I think everyone should check out.

Unknown:

And I want to talk about your experience, as you know, as a

Unknown:

mom, as someone who's been in the game industry as someone

Unknown:

who's learning more, and kind of the direction that we're heading

Unknown:

in the games industry, in general. So big, big picture

Unknown:

stuff here. So now we're kind of moving into the metaverse, we're

Unknown:

moving into virtual experiences. This is something I like to talk

Unknown:

a lot about on the show. I'm definitely one of those people

Unknown:

who still believes in real world experiences, and believes in

Unknown:

that balance, for sure. But as tech gets better, and as we all

Unknown:

start to do more and more things online, I want to hear about

Unknown:

your perspective, from working with kids in real life. And what

Unknown:

you're thinking about in terms of balancing virtual and real,

Unknown:

specifically, since you started during a pandemic, when everyone

Unknown:

was in virtual schooling, and intentionally built a very safe

Unknown:

real world experience. Yeah, how are you thinking about kind of

Unknown:

this hybrid? How are you thinking about getting kids

Unknown:

excited about new tech, but still interacting in the real

Unknown:

world and giving those skills? Like, what? What are you doing

Unknown:

to prepare for that? Think about that, to teach your kids about

Unknown:

it. Um,

Unknown:

as we started to go back into the world, and now we can be

Unknown:

around other people. What I love that has happened is the virtual

Unknown:

didn't just go away, right? We didn't just say, Okay, we don't

Unknown:

need zoom and Google meet anymore. And we're back to what

Unknown:

it used to be no, what we've created is this hybrid world

Unknown:

where we can do both. And so also kids are funny, and maybe

Unknown:

all humans are where, like, when they have to do something, they

Unknown:

no longer want to do it. So virtual seems great, right? Like

Unknown:

talking to your friends over FaceTime or whatever, that was

Unknown:

fun when it was a choice. But now you're saying I have to be

Unknown:

on verge, I have to be on the Zoom call or whatever. There's

Unknown:

some pushback. But also, I think everyone kind of realized the

Unknown:

value of being in person. So now there is a desire amongst adults

Unknown:

and children to want to be in person because there was a point

Unknown:

where we could not. And so everyone is also craving this in

Unknown:

person experience now. However, with virtual, and we know this

Unknown:

for so long now, but I think is more prevalent now that you can

Unknown:

meet and connect with people anywhere in the world in this

Unknown:

virtual space. And that is a beautiful, beautiful thing. In

Unknown:

our, like, for instance, girls and gaming program that was

Unknown:

hosted by another nonprofit. There were kids in different

Unknown:

school districts, and nowhere near each other like

Unknown:

Philadelphia and Lancaster, right, they're nowhere near each

Unknown:

other. So they got to meet other girls that they otherwise would

Unknown:

not have met, and got to hear their perspectives and their

Unknown:

ideas. So the virtual world has so much value, but also, in

Unknown:

person experience, there's something to be said, If you and

Unknown:

I were in the same room, it would just be different I can't

Unknown:

describe it is there's just something different about

Unknown:

physically being present with someone. And if we can just take

Unknown:

the value from both of those experiences and create balance.

Unknown:

I think it I think that's the direction that we're going

Unknown:

whether we want to or not both of these things as humans, we

Unknown:

want them and it'll just kind of keep evolving. And we're just

Unknown:

open to evolving with with that.

Unknown:

If that makes sense to me, and I know that you are big on on

Unknown:

wellness and fitness is something that we've talked

Unknown:

about, are you at all kind of thinking about how we're going

Unknown:

to balance new tech experiences. I think there's like, you know,

Unknown:

there's so much concern over screentime there's so much

Unknown:

concern over on on being an online world and the types of

Unknown:

harassment you might receive or the types of things you might

Unknown:

get used to, like, what are you thinking about as someone who is

Unknown:

engaged not only with gaming but with the fitness and wellness

Unknown:

side? about moving into more kind of virtual, or I guess,

Unknown:

time spent virtually time spent interacting with technology,

Unknown:

less time spent on real world things like, yeah, and that

Unknown:

perspective, what are you thinking about?

Unknown:

Oh, my gosh, again, a balance is everything. So even as we think

Unknown:

about growing our programs are just in our family, non

Unknown:

electronic time is important. I think just for our mental

Unknown:

health, too, like there's just so much stimulation in a

Unknown:

computer or a phone or a tablet, and being able to connect with

Unknown:

nature, being able to be a little bit quiet, sometimes like

Unknown:

and recenter, and rebalance ourselves. In in the world, and

Unknown:

in the education space. Mindfulness is like a good

Unknown:

buzzword that popping around. But it's important, right? That

Unknown:

this balance that we need is absolutely important. Just

Unknown:

stepping away from this Metaverse and electronics is so

Unknown:

important. So that's one of the things that we've thought about.

Unknown:

Like for the camp, we'll definitely step away and go

Unknown:

outside and just play right. Like there's so much value in

Unknown:

just playing and having fun outside of that. And so I hope

Unknown:

that that's a topic of conversation, as this virtual

Unknown:

reality world is growing. And there's so much happening good

Unknown:

and bad and upside down and crazy. I hope that the

Unknown:

conversation around balancing and and getting out of the

Unknown:

virtual and into the real world is a topic of conversation. And

Unknown:

it's really hard for industries and companies to say, hey, we

Unknown:

have this amazing product or this amazing game or whatever.

Unknown:

But make sure you take a break.

Unknown:

Yeah, when they're trying to get every ounce of your time. You

Unknown:

have something you love and you believe and you want to use it.

Unknown:

Yes, I do want to end with kind of a fun question. And this is

Unknown:

something that I've asked folks in the education space before

Unknown:

but what are the kids actually playing these days? What do you

Unknown:

weigh?

Unknown:

Yes. So um, let's see Madden and 2k are a big one at our school.

Unknown:

Smash is like everyone loves Smash. Another Brawlhalla is a

Unknown:

big one. Raw is a yes rise.

Unknown:

That's a little you know, madness, UK will know about the

Unknown:

Brawlhalla.

Unknown:

It is a smaller, I actually have a student who participates in

Unknown:

the Brawlhalla tournaments. So yes, so he loves them. And

Unknown:

because smash and Brawlhalla are very similar smashes, you know,

Unknown:

Nintendo, everyone knows internet already knows those

Unknown:

characters. So sometimes, if a student for whatever reason

Unknown:

feels like smashes a hard game, maybe they've seen other people

Unknown:

play and they're very, very good and intimidated by it. I'll

Unknown:

introduce them to bro hollow. And because it's not everyone

Unknown:

doesn't know Brawlhalla it's like the intimidation is a

Unknown:

little down. And when they get confident, I said, Look, now you

Unknown:

can do this, because it's very similar gameplay very similar

Unknown:

concept of a game. So a lot of times, I was kind of like my

Unknown:

entry into introducing some kids to smash who are like kinda

Unknown:

resistant to it. But it also it each game has its own ecosystem,

Unknown:

which is so beautiful. And with bahala not being the Smash, it

Unknown:

still has this amazing, huge community with lots of toys,

Unknown:

there's lots of big prizes happening. And I was just

Unknown:

surprised to see that because when we were thinking about the

Unknown:

games to bring to the school, we wanted them popular games, but

Unknown:

then we wanted some other games that made because we want to say

Unknown:

just because you've never played that before doesn't mean you're

Unknown:

not going to be good at it. Or just because you play this one

Unknown:

game all the time. And that's your favorite doesn't mean

Unknown:

you're not going to enjoy this other game, because that is very

Unknown:

hard. Like some kids are just like, I'm a Madden player, and

Unknown:

that's what I play and I don't like anything else. Or another

Unknown:

thing is I'm a manager on PlayStation or multiplayer on

Unknown:

Xbox. And that's what I play. I'm playing on anything else.

Unknown:

I'm not playing another game. Wait a minute. Let's open the

Unknown:

possibilities. Maybe this still can be fun, and you'd be

Unknown:

surprised that you'd be good at it. And one thing was super fun.

Unknown:

The school had a professional development day And so we were

Unknown:

able to come in to be it was supposed to be just for fun not

Unknown:

like, sit down and do training was a fun, Self Care

Unknown:

Professional Development Day. And so we had all of the games

Unknown:

set up. And the teachers were set up where every I think it

Unknown:

was like every five minutes, they had to switch chairs. So

Unknown:

they would start the game wherever the last person picked

Unknown:

up. And we did this intentionally because we knew if

Unknown:

we gave them the choice, they were just going to go to the

Unknown:

thing they were used to. And so by doing that, they discovered

Unknown:

Oh, this is actually fun. I did, I would have never chose to play

Unknown:

it on my own. And I've actually been dating, yes, pretty much.

Unknown:

Yes. And they loved it, the teachers absolutely loved it.

Unknown:

And so that started the conversation of why some of the

Unknown:

games, we've chosen to introduce the kids to something that they

Unknown:

normally wouldn't choose, because it's not the popular

Unknown:

game, or it's not what they're used to, or what their brother

Unknown:

cousins are doing. And so that has been really fun. So in the

Unknown:

summer, like, for instance, Bomberman was one of the big,

Unknown:

fun games that the kids really love. It's not a big game, but

Unknown:

it's fun. It's simple. And at first, they were like, Oh, we've

Unknown:

never heard of this game. Like that's gonna be corny that, and

Unknown:

then they loved it. They absolutely loved it and had such

Unknown:

a great time.

Unknown:

So fun. I love game speed dating. That's awesome. I think

Unknown:

that

Unknown:

you know what you gave me idea I'm gonna have to try that put

Unknown:

together a program against speed dating for grownups or

Unknown:

something. Yes.

Unknown:

So fun. That's great. Well, I want to quickly summarize some

Unknown:

of the things that we touched on. Before we get into our last

Unknown:

little segment here. We began with a whole discussion on kick

Unknown:

the day what you all are doing, how it started naturally, with

Unknown:

posters in the neighborhood neighborhood and a repurpose TV

Unknown:

in the driveway. And from there, you were able to build an

Unknown:

environment where kids who wouldn't normally interact,

Unknown:

started interacting, took it from the driveway to a school

Unknown:

and started developing gaming with intention to introduce

Unknown:

competitive gaming and esports ecosystem to all kinds of

Unknown:

different kids. You look to teach better skills, from coding

Unknown:

to the competitive scene, event planning sportsmanship being

Unknown:

part of a team, fitness, wellness, and so much more. So

Unknown:

it's, it's not just gaming, that there's anything wrong with that

Unknown:

either. But it's bringing gaming into into the classroom to teach

Unknown:

other things in a really fun way. Your experience as an

Unknown:

educational staffer helped you were able to learn about what

Unknown:

schools needed, what kids wanted, and get communities, key

Unknown:

stakeholders on board. And at a granular level, you needed full

Unknown:

support for the school staff to actually make this happen. So it

Unknown:

wasn't just getting a director on it was making sure that the

Unknown:

teachers and everyone was also excited about program.

Unknown:

Absolutely. We talked about different support systems that

Unknown:

could be in place, we talked about how having local

Unknown:

government support would make implementing programs easier.

Unknown:

And supporting games as a part of education will be really

Unknown:

helpful. But also that it can go too far. And you don't want to

Unknown:

create a situation where you have businesses flooding in

Unknown:

trying to monetize the state contract, or any of the red tape

Unknown:

that might potentially come with state money. So it's it's this

Unknown:

balance of getting people on board and getting them to

Unknown:

support but also allowing the freedom and flexibility that you

Unknown:

have now to win over stakeholders naturally, and get

Unknown:

a community what it actually needs. We ended with a

Unknown:

discussion on kind of virtual worlds, and how the hybrid

Unknown:

between virtual and real life is really important. There's

Unknown:

something about being physically present with someone that is

Unknown:

just special and different. But the virtual element also allows

Unknown:

people to connect where they may not have been able to actually

Unknown:

connect due to physical distance. So having that balance

Unknown:

is really great. And at your camps this summer, you will

Unknown:

still be taking time to get outside via Nietzsche, practice

Unknown:

mindfulness, all of that in between sessions of gaming. And

Unknown:

we ended with what the kids are playing, which I'm not going to

Unknown:

get into but because we're good answers, but I do want to know

Unknown:

that I think everyone should try game speed dating. That's a

Unknown:

brilliant idea. So the last segment I like to do, this is

Unknown:

something that I've asked everyone who comes on the show,

Unknown:

and I know you've listed so I'm sure you know what it is that

Unknown:

this is the moment of reflection, I want to ask you.

Unknown:

There's one thing you would like to tell your younger self about

Unknown:

getting into the gaming industry and being successful.

Unknown:

So prior to meeting my husband, I was not a gamer. My brother

Unknown:

was and I had other people around me and I'm like I got

Unknown:

better things to do around here. And as my husband and our

Unknown:

relationship grew and we built a family conversations around

Unknown:

gaming and why it's important to my husband and realizing what

Unknown:

happens like the for my husband and just I was right. And so I

Unknown:

think just being open, being more open, I wish that I was

Unknown:

more, my mind was more open to the, to the gaming space much

Unknown:

more earlier. And I think my mind didn't completely become

Unknown:

open until I was introduced to this esports world where I could

Unknown:

see my kids earning a scholarship or I could now see

Unknown:

the career opportunities and see, like, all that encompasses

Unknown:

gaming space, and not just the actual gaming part of it. And so

Unknown:

it wasn't until that time that I discovered esports and the

Unknown:

careers and all of the opportunities that I said yes, I

Unknown:

love this space, I want to be part of this space. I may not be

Unknown:

the gamer. But I love this space. And I love what's in this

Unknown:

space and nationally because my kids are interested I just want

Unknown:

to be here so that I can help them grow and evolve here but I

Unknown:

do tell my younger self to just be more open minded.

Unknown:

Totally with you on that. Listeners definitely know that I

Unknown:

am not great at putting myself out there and actually trying

Unknown:

games but I love this industry so much you know, I'm here

Unknown:

because I genuinely like it. I like reading about it. I love

Unknown:

meeting folks like you who are doing stuff in it. So fun. So

Unknown:

cool. So completely review on that page. Julie that thank you

Unknown:

so much for coming on. Where can people find you? Follow you?

Unknown:

Where can people follow kick the day? See what you all are up to

Unknown:

get involved in the summer camps where where can they find all

Unknown:

that?

Unknown:

Yes. So on Instagram, we are kick the day kids on Facebook.

Unknown:

It's just kick the day. And then you can find me on LinkedIn. I

Unknown:

think I'm the only Juliet Jefferson.

Unknown:

We love unique names.

Unknown:

Yes, yes, sir. Thank you so much. Thank you. So those three

Unknown:

places I'm open DM me, message me. I'm open to people's

Unknown:

suggestions and ideas too, as well.

Unknown:

Just so wonderful. For all the listeners out there. Be sure to

Unknown:

leave those five star ratings and reviews. Check out other

Unknown:

holodeck media podcasts including better business and

Unknown:

business of esports. I'm on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

Unknown:

at Lindsay path. You can catch me Wednesday Nathan the business

Unknown:

of esports life after show you catch this podcast and your feed

Unknown:

every week. See you next week. Thanks for joining

Unknown:

us here on meta woman. Make sure to subscribe to this podcast

Unknown:

everywhere you get your podcasts leave a five star review and

Unknown:

tell your friends family and colleagues all about us. Also,

Unknown:

make sure to follow meta TV on all socials to get more of the

Unknown:

best Metaverse content anywhere. Tune in every week for another

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About the Podcast

Seeking Alpha
Your sherpas in the wild worlds of crypto and dating
Join two women in their journeys through their careers, dating, and navigating emerging technology. We're here to learn together, be open about our lives (including the struggles and successes), have fun, and give a platform to some of the most interesting voices around the industry.
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